Following Etrich's directions, Nareth found an ancient ruin among the black basalt peaks.
He found dozens of scattered bone fragments on the ground. Irregular in shape and size, they bore obvious hammering and grinding marks, clearly remnants from forging the falcon short sword.
They were grey, unlike ordinary bone.
He picked up a finger-sized fragment. The moment it touched his hand, his fingers tingled, and he felt an instinctive revulsion.
His thumb gently rubbed it. His fingertips felt pinpricks.
A black spot appeared in his eyes.
Anti-psychic material.
He also keenly sensed a grey, decaying aura, decaying with every instant, yet these were bones from an unknown age.
The "Mentor of Disorder" looked at the psychic luster on the fragments, discerning it was not potion material, but psychic reagent.
His gaze swept over the scattered fragments. Their surfaces were covered in layers of complex, grey-black "threads of law."
His spiritual energy surged. The fragments spun, rapidly turning into fine threads, then intertwined.
Dozens of seconds later, they condensed into a chain.
He let it fall to the ground and walked to a massive black basalt monolith.
It was carved with two images and dense Phuthu script.
One image showed a man and an eagle fighting under a moon.
The accompanying text was only slightly more detailed than Etrich's account.
An important line read: "On the Day of Decay, the Phuthu descended from the sky."
"Day of Decay." He repeated the term, seeing it beside the other image.
He looked at the image. A figure with a sword looked up at an eagle in the sky.
Two spheres, one large, one small, were depicted. The nearer, larger sphere's shadow obscured the smaller.
"Does the Day of Decay refer to a solar eclipse?"
He pressed his communication bead and asked Arsena Dunn about the scan results of Vessor's moon.
"My Lord, auspex scans show no abnormalities. Its orbit around Vessor is stable."
"The auspex matrix master reports the surface is composed of orange-red rock, abnormally normal."
"There are no plants on the entire moon, but tens of thousands of eagle-like creatures."
"..."
After his Aide's report, he considered the known intelligence: The Dusk Moon. The Day of Decay.
The tall, robust Vessorines. Their exceptional combat ability.
Psychic reagents. Negative psychic resistance.
...
Inspiration struck. 'Could it be "Twilight Giant"?'
With this hypothesis, he considered the Vessorines' situation. He grew more certain.
Sequence 8 "Pugilist" on the Twilight Giant Pathway could reduce the effects of certain supernatural powers with their bodies.
Vessorines generally had psychic resistance.
He thought of the heating banner shaft at dusk.
'It can affect the entire planet of Vessor, the entire Vessorine population...'
'It seems unactivated, in a state like unconsciousness or sealed.'
'The key is, it triggered a reaction from the "Red Priest's" uniqueness. It should also be a uniqueness.'
His eyes lit up. He had a chance to gain a uniqueness himself.
His two current uniqueities both came from the Emperor:
The "Red Priest" was a reward after the Rangdan War. The "Demoness" within the Void Glass was offered by Arkhas Fal, following his command.
But he knew gaining a uniqueness would not be easy.
He grabbed the grey bone chain with his left hand, his wings beating, rising into the air, his right hand pressing his communication bead.
"Prepare a Stormbird. I'm going to Vessor's moon."
Four standard hours later, a Shadow-pattern Stormbird launched from the Shadow's Sovereignty's flight deck.
In the cockpit, Nelson, the Primarch's personal pilot, slammed the throttle to its limit.
The black iron bird flew silently towards the orange-red body. The rune numbers on the instrument panel rapidly fell.
When the numbers jumped to 5,600 meters, the "Winner" Nelson's eyes flickered.
"Ha..." His breathing slowed involuntarily, as if time had slowed.
In his obsidian eyes, the orange-red light in the empty void suddenly bent.
He intuitively felt the aircraft, less than a century old, blessed by Techmarines just two hours ago, had aged slightly: The Punisher-class reactor's brilliant light dimmed slightly. The instruments slowed by a millisecond...
As he considered how to report to his Father, the numbers fell to 5,200 meters.
A red warning rune suddenly appeared.
The quantum field repulsor failed.
The Shadow-pattern Stormbird's stealth veil was suddenly torn away. The black iron bird was exposed in the void.
He opened his throat mic and reported to Nareth.
"Father, that moon, somewhat like the Hrud, has slightly aged the craft."
"Open the hatch." The "Majestic" voice made him instinctively obey.
He pressed the control button, worried. The hatch opened.
Nareth flew out alone.
He looked down at the floating orange-red body and dove.
He keenly felt his golden wings beat slightly slower.
He was like in a swamp, each beat slower than the last.
With a thought, the Burning One's fragment blazed with golden flames.
Inside the black Stormbird, the energy readout runes flashed rapidly. Yellow runes turned to glaring red in an instant.
Following the rune markers, he found the blazing golden light on the viewscreen.
'Father!'
The runes vanished.
The energy reading exceeded the sensor's range.
A grey gloom rose in his eyes, the grey decay concerning. He murmured, turning the controls.
"Father..."
Golden flames blazed, propelling him down.
Light and shadow flickered in his eyes. He felt a dim yellow mist rise, like a thin film.
Light and shadow rapidly faded.
CRACK!
Light and shadow extinguished.
He could not perceive the Warp. For the first time, he could not use psychic power.
His vision filled with complex, grey-black threads of law.
He looked down. The orange-red surface was traversed by orderly, blue-black rivers, stained with the hue of dusk.
On both sides of the rivers, dense flocks of eagle-like creatures looked up.
Their feathers were blue-black. Their eyes were dim. Their beaks curved like hooks.
SWOOSH, SWOOSH, SWOOSH...
Flocks of eagles rose, howling, taking flight.
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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